How Long Does It Take To Start Collecting Royalties?

Royalty payment timelines

Written by Samantha Shank Updated over a week ago

Songtrust collects from a myriad of revenue sources, with each source paying out on their own timeline.

When first signing up with Songtrust, it will take an average of 9-12 months once your songs are registered before you will see your first royalty payment. This is because, on average, it will take around 9-12 months before your catalog is fully registered globally. Once this step is complete, we then begin to receive and process payments from the various societies around the world. Once Songtrust receives royalties for your registered musical works, you will receive these earnings at the end of that quarter, so long as you accumulate enough royalties to make the $5 minimum payout.

It is important to note that some societies prioritize based on total earnings--so the higher earners will be paid out faster.

Also, don't forget to add ISRCs to your songs--this is very important, particularly for collecting mechanical royalties, and can greatly speed up the collection process.

If you have a significant amount of streams and don't think you are receiving the correct amount of royalties, just send us a message on the Songtrust chatbox on your account, and we'll be happy to look into your catalog further.